More Underage Tobacco Sales in Yakima

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Story Published: Nov 11, 2009 at 7:38 PM PDT

By Ryan Simms

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YAKIMA COUNTY -- Fewer people are smoking in Yakima County, but that hasn't stopped a growing number of retailers from selling cigarettes to minors.

With a wall of cigarettes behind her, Michelle Jensen doesn't back down when it comes to keeping kids from smoking

"If (minors) give me a problem, I'll tell them that I will call the police," she says.

But not everyone is as critical as Jensen. In Yakima County, the number of businesses compliant with underage tobacco laws dropped 14 percent last year.

If Jensen did sell a pack of cigarettes to a minor, the fines wouldn't be as high as most people might assume.

Under state law, any clerk who sells cigarettes to a minor faces a fine of only 50 dollars. The penalties for convenience stores can go as high as 500 dollars, but they're allowed five strikes before losing their tobacco license.

The American Lung Association is now working to tighten the fines against people selling tobacco to kids. It wants the laws to be as strict as underage alcohol sales. Until that happens, however, Jensen is keeping watch.

"Even if they're older, I'll ID them," she tells Action News.

Jensen's store has always complied with the law, and it won't stop now.

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